SIR Reunites Son With Parents After 26 Years In West Bengal

At a time when reports have surfaced of people posing as someone's father to make voter cards, and the names of many dead voters being deleted in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, the ongoing process has brought unexpected joy to an elderly couple in West Bengal.

The SIR process reunited Prashanta Dutta and his wife, Santona Dutta, with their son, Tarun Dutta, who left home 26 years ago.

After their daughters were married, the Habra couple lived with their only son. Prashanta and Tarun worked in the paddy business. But after Tarun incurred losses in business and fell into debt with several people, he left home without telling anyone, out of shame and fear of humiliation. The couple then never saw him again.

As pressure from creditors grew, Prashanta sold their land and property to pay off Tarun's debts. Even then, with no trace of their son, the elderly parents became completely helpless.

Recently, as the SIR process began, the local booth-level officer (BLO) delivered the forms for the elderly couple and their son to their home. Prashanta filled out the forms for himself, his wife, and his son and submitted them to the BLO.

On November 29, while mapping these forms on the Election Commission's website, the BLO in Habra, Tapan Dhar, noticed that Prashanta's son Tarun's name had already been mapped from a location in West Midnapore.

Dhar then contacted the BLO in West Midnapore and learnt that Tarun was registered as a voter in that area and that someone claiming to be his father had submitted all necessary documents. The BLO informed Dhar that Tarun himself had come to submit the form.

Later, through the BLO in West Midnapore, Dhar spoke on the phone with Tarun and his family and learnt about his residence.

Tarun's son then got the phone number of his grandfather and called him, leading to conversations between the two families.

The elderly couple told Tarun that they had cleared all his debts long ago and that he could return home without fear of creditors. His sisters also spoke with him over video call.

The elderly couple said that this was possible because of the SIR process.

"Now we can die without regrets," they said.